"Howl's Moving Castle" Discuss Everything *Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Non-spoiler thread here: First impressions

[Mikael]

Comparing it to the movie, Sophies sisters was more important to the story than I expected and the Witch of The Waste was more of a threat but I think Ghibli nailed the look and feeling of the book... except for the ending. Feels like they ran out of time there. Comparing it to the Crestomancy series this is a good book for all ages.

[Casey Friedmann]

I read Howl sometime in the late 90s, and then saw the movie not terribly long after it came out, but I didn't really remember much of anything about them (I have memory issues), so this was basically a first-read for me. I enjoyed it casually but not in love, but then again, it is YA and I was way more into DWJ when I was of the appropriate age. I didn't particularly like the ending, though. It felt like a lot of loose ends were tied up very, very quickly, and it felt like Howl's admission of affection for Sophie was... just thrown in as a AH! HE LOVES HER TOO!

[Michelle]

Yes the ending was a bit rushed, I agree. But overall a terrific read.

[Elin]

I really liked both the book and the movie. I've seen the movie a number of times and am so glad I now have read the book to. They complement each other very nicely.

The one thing I didn't quite get however was the second part of that poem. Did any of you get the meaning of that? I agree that the feeling of the book is very homely and nice, and i find sophie truly amusing!

[Mary]

I think adding the war made a major difference in the movie.

Plus the simplifications of what the scarecrow was and all that.

[Cheryl]

I still don't remember my first read very well, and still don't particularly care for the book. I have to admit, I don't like not knowing what's going on, who's who, why things are happening this way. So it's probably just me. But my adult son fully expected to like it, based on his tastes, and it didn't work for him, either.

Otoh I do vaguely remember liking the movie and maybe I'll watch that again, even though I watch almost no movies or tv and am generally disappointed when I do try to.

Only one book dart - soaking onions in vinegar, instead of cooking them, ready by the time the rest of the lunch is ready? Have any of you tried this?

[Michelle]

Eww. No.

[Rick]

Cheryl struggles to catch up wrote: "Only one book dart - soaking onions in vinegar, instead of cooking them, ready by the time the rest of the lunch is ready? Have any of you tried this?
..."
Sure, that's just quick pickling them. Tasty as a condiment on burgers etc. VERY different, obviously, from cooking them and good to use when you want them crunchy with that hit of acid.

[Anna]

Yes, but even better with lime/lemon juice instead of vinegar 😊

[Rick]

Sure. And I don't use plain distilled vinegar, but some kind of flavored vinegar - red wine, champagne, sherry, apple cider...

[Anna]

I don’t serve them in a human skull though.

[Rick]

Anna wrote: "I don’t serve them in a human skull though."

But... why not? It's the perfect vessel... Um... *allegedly*.

[Anna]

I’ll try it the next time I’m entertaining a cursed wizard!

(Probably next Tuesday.)

[Stephen]

An enjoyable read, clever and fun. I liked the main character (Sophie) and the way her understanding of the situation and the other characters developed. I found the plot somewhat confusing, but that’s ok.

The book was new to me, and I haven’t seen the movie either. I’ve read a few other books by Diana Wynne Jones, all fairly recently, all of them in the Chrestomanci series, I think.

[Tamara]

Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite authors, but this isn't one of my favourite stories of hers. It's fine, but not so much my cup of tea. Perhaps if I'd read it earlier, before others of hers, or before I saw the animated movie version, which confused me (it only made sense after I read the book), then it might have been different.

[Mary]

Oh yes. The book explained Sophie's powers enough.

[M.L.]

I enjoyed the humor: Howl being a dandy and spending hours in the bathroom primping, a real drama king when things don't go his way; stalwart Sophie making the best of a bad situation who starts out talking to her stick anyway; Calcifer and the descriptions of him and his movements as fire. The title is well-known, and I tried to set that aside and just discover it. I would like to see the movie which I think may have tightened the story up somewhat (don't know though). Anway, I'm glad it was a group read.

This cover really shows Calcifer as described as well as the scarecrow and Sophie doddering about at the bottom. The castle I thought of as more rickety, but yes, it's floating in the background.

[Lucy]

I was worried that I was going to be too attached to the film version (which I've seen countless times) to enjoy the differences in the book, but actually I really love both versions. I especially loved Sophie, her personality really shines and both her journey and her magic ability were really special. I was also delighted to find out that Howl is actually a Welshman from the Valleys who plays rugby!

I actually didn't mind the rushed ending as I think there would have been a risk of the story dragging slightly if all the different subplots had been given more space to tie up, especially when the focus was on Sophie's journey.

[Tina Reads]

I had forgotten most of the plot of the book since the last time I read it. The movie cut so much and that memory overshadowed what I remembered from HMC. I forgot the Wales subplot and how much the sisters played a part of the story. Still a five star read for me!

[Anakin]

I finished the book recently and really enjoyed it for the most part but did anyone else find the conclusion to be really rushed and unsatisfying? Everything wraps too easily and quickly in a few pages. I think the pacing could've been tweaked a little to reduce the middle part (where the constant cleaning got repetitive) and spend more pagetime on the finale. Maybe even an epilogue.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I do wish that, but I also see why...it was the curse coming true, which was a very abrupt thing. That said, some build up would have been nice, agreed.

[Carro]

It was a re-read for me and I found it about the same as the previous time. Lots I loved, but overall not quite for me. Might be YA language, might be the things that are not quite explained.
However did love:
Sophie making hats in the shop and talking to them and having a magical effect.
The sisters and the way they briskly arranged their own lives to their own satisfaction
Sophie finding freedom in being old and cantankerous and don't give a cuss
All the different doors on the castle
The wonderful flower garden and running a flower shop
The poor apprentice
Everything being down to the fallen star in the fireplace
The restive castle rather suited the restive howl.
That the castle was really a two up two down - I like that it wasn't a gigantic fortress - made the story simpler and more believable about the moving part. A little castle that scuttles along made sense (in a fantasy way)
The seven league boots and travelling by wearing one each.

Howl himself was somewhere between funny and really irritating - which was intentional. Sophie did slap him down effectively.

I did like the punchline of Howl being Hywell.
The witch was an effective villain.

[Cheryl]

Carro, thank you. You've clarified much of what I was musing on, and now I feel as if I've sufficiently 'mastered' the book.

[Anthony]

Necroposting! Just finished it and here’s the review I posted:

This a delightful book in many ways: Jones allowed her quirky, flawed characters to live and breathe in their own quirky, flawed ways; and she refreshingly plowed forward with her inventive, whimsical ideas about magic and multiple dimensions of reality without any belabored signposting or irritating exposition. I just wished this novel’s narrative engine were a bit sharper in focus and momentum, which would have ticked up my rating a notch. The castle and the characters sure do move around a lot, but it’s hard to feel the threads that bind them all together are indeed pushing them forward through a plot that really feels earned. And therefore what happens to them, even when they are in some sort of apparent jeopardy, never really lands with any stakes.

But I was indeed charmed by these characters, and I believed in them, which sadly is an all-too-rare occurrence with many fantasy novels. So even though I didn’t fall in love with this book, I’m glad to have acquainted myself with such a well-regarded and beloved writer’s work.

[so_big_hope]

Honestly I enjoyed it in the beginning, but at the end it was boring and I barely got through it :(

[Vivian]

I’m still reading howl’s moving castle and it’s so phenomenon. I’ve watched the movie and the differences has me in aw

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

so glad you're enjoying it!!